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Minutesof October meeting 2009 in Idaho

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho. 1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or

Message 1 of 10
, Oct 22, 2009

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling that libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without robust libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be regarded and supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research capabilities beyond maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps libraries should be termed " Learning Centers" or something like that. Libraries should be integrated into the development of curriculum decisions and research needs in an organic way. Currently there are serious problems in communication between libraries and academic and administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that libraries must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets. Some information on possible consortium services is found in the files section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for libraries to become a more active part of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection should be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.

Submitted 10/22/2009
Jim Emdy
Chair

Rick Severson

Hi Jim, Regarding the library consortium idea, it makes sense to follow in the footsteps of the osteopathic and chiropractic librarians who created CAM library

Message 2 of 10
, Oct 23, 2009

Hi Jim,

Regarding the library consortium idea, it makes sense to follow in
the footsteps of the osteopathic and chiropractic librarians who created CAM library
consortia in the 1980s. They focused on subject headings and indexing
(both library consortia created their own searchable literature index; here is
the URL to the Index to Chiropractic Literature, which serves as the public
face of CLIBCON, their library consortium: http://www.chiroindex.org/;
an article about the history of CLIBCON and the index was published in 2008,
and here is a link to the citation: http://www.chiroindex.org/?search_page=articles&action=&articleId=20410
).

Another area where librarians can contribute to the professional
literature of their discipline is in creating a comprehensive retrospective
bibliography. Every subject discipline that has its own distinctive
literature (whether it is chemistry, American history, etc.) has a mechanism
for comprehensive bibliographic coverage of the field. Typically, that
involves monographic coverage of past publications and journal coverage of current
publications.

The idea of negotiating consortial prices with database vendors
might be a valuable exercise for Chinese medicine librarians (I saw that many
librarians expressed an interest in that), but my sense is that the need for
that might have passed. Ten years ago there were deals to be made for newly
constructed buying groups, but both vendors and librarians have figured out the
landscape now. For example, we participate in regional buying groups
brokered by the state of Oregon and the Orbis Cascade Alliance, among others.

I also think that it might be worth the effort to look at grant
opportunities to cover the cost of creating a viable consortium for Chinese
medicine librarians and for jumpstarting the creation of the sorts of tools mentioned
above. It seems like a very fundable idea to me. I think in person
conferences and meetings will be essential in the beginning.

A few naturopathic librarians have been discussing the issue of
a consortium for the past five years or so. Achievements to date in their
field include: (1) the creation of a rudimentary subject headings list,
called NaSH (Naturopathic Subject Headings) by NCNM librarian Friedhelm
Kirchfeld in the 1980s; (2) work on creating an index/bibliography for journals
published by Benedict Lust, founder of naturopathy in America; (3) librarian contribution
of a chapter in the Foundations of Naturopathic Medicine textbook project (the
chapter outlines the sorts of things librarians could do to enhance the literature
such as those mentioned above); (4) efforts by an NCNM librarian to create a working
group to develop NaSH further.

But the chiropractors and osteopaths have had the most success
in creating CAM library consortia, and it makes sense to follow in their
footsteps.

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009
meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically
or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five
elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under
"headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling that
libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without robust
libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be regarded and
supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research capabilities beyond
maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps libraries should be termed
" Learning Centers" or something like that. Libraries should be integrated
into the development of curriculum decisions and research needs in an organic
way. Currently there are serious problems in communication between libraries
and academic and administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that libraries
must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets. Some information on
possible consortium services is found in the files section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of
a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to
coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the
consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for libraries to become a more active part
of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group
and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching
institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel
cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast
considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection should
be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get
wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these
days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage
individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.

Submitted 10/22/2009
Jim Emdy
Chair

Naomi Broering

Dear Jim and LCAOM members, Some good news. I am writing in regard to the continual discussion and furstration about Indexing terms and cataloging of Oriental

Message 3 of 10
, Nov 17, 2009

Dear Jim and LCAOM members,

Some good news. I am writing in regard to the continual discussion and furstration about Indexing terms and cataloging of Oriental Medicine topics listed below from the Idaho meeting minutes..

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

This weekend I had an opportunity to speak to the Director of the National Library of Medicine and to the head of the Medical Subject Headings at the NLM, about our concerns that the Cataloging subject headings do not meet the needs of Oriental Medicine topics.

They are willing and interested in looking at our needs. Dr. Stuart Nelson (MeSH) suggested we consider the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine. Dr Lindberg, Dir NLM, said if we organize and forward our needs they would be willing to look at incorporating these terms in the MeSH vocabulary. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to make some progress with the National Library of Medicine. I know that many of us use LC for cataloging, but we also add the MeSH terms in the bibliographic record.

Dr. Nelson is going to send me the ISBN for the Thesaurus, so I can take a look at it. I also ordered a copy of the International Nomenclature book.

Of course,if anything is doen, it would not happen overnite, it would be incrementally handled.

Another knowledgeable person I spoke to is Dr Kent Spackman,Director of Terminology for the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization database. When he was in China last year he became familiar with the issue we face.

Everyone agreed that it is best to incorporate the terms into an existing national system rather than consider building our own. A national system such as the NLM MeSH would be maintained, and we, as a small group of librarians, do not have the resources or staff to do this. With NLM involved we would also have a chance to get cooperation or collaboration from the Library of Congress too.

Let me know if I should continue to pursue this on behalf ot the LCAOM librarians.

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling that libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without robust libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be regarded and supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research capabilities beyond maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps libraries should be termed " Learning Centers" or something like that. Libraries should be integrated into the development of curriculum decisions and research needs in an organic way. Currently there are serious problems in communication between libraries and academic and administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that libraries must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets. Some information on possible consortium services is found in the files section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for libraries to become a more active part of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection should be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.

Some good news. I am writing in regard to the continual discussion and furstration about Indexing terms and cataloging of Oriental Medicine topics listed below from the Idaho meeting minutes. .

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

This weekend I had an opportunity to speak to the Director of the National Library of Medicine and to the head of the Medical Subject Headings at the NLM, about our concerns that the Cataloging subject headings do not meet the needs of Oriental Medicine topics.

They are willing and interested in looking at our needs. Dr. Stuart Nelson (MeSH) suggested we consider the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine. Dr Lindberg, Dir NLM, said if we organize and forward our needs they would be willing to look at incorporating these terms in the MeSH vocabulary. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to make some progress with the National Library of Medicine. I know that many of us use LC for cataloging, but we also add the MeSH terms in the bibliographic record.

Dr. Nelson is going to send me the ISBN for the Thesaurus, so I can take a look at it. I also ordered a copy of the International Nomenclature book.

Of course,if anything is doen, it would not happen overnite, it would be incrementally handled.

Another knowledgeable person I spoke to is Dr Kent Spackman,Director of Terminology for the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization database. When he was in China last year he became familiar with the issue we face.

Everyone agreed that it is best to incorporate the terms into an existing national system rather than consider building our own. A national system such as the NLM MeSH would be maintained, and we, as a small group of librarians, do not have the resources or staff to do this. With NLM involved we would also have a chance to get cooperation or collaboration from the Library of Congress too.

Let me know if I should continue to pursue this on behalf ot the LCAOM librarians.

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling that libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without robust libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be regarded and supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research capabilities beyond maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps libraries should be termed "
Learning Centers" or something like that. Libraries should be integrated into the development of curriculum decisions and research needs in an organic way. Currently there are serious problems in communication between libraries and academic and administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that libraries must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets. Some information on possible consortium services is found in the files section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for
libraries to become a more active part of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection should be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.

Some good news. I am writing in regard to the continual discussion and furstration about Indexing terms and cataloging of Oriental Medicine topics listed below from the Idaho meeting minutes. .

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

This weekend I had an opportunity to speak to the Director of the National Library of Medicine and to the head of the Medical Subject Headings at the NLM, about our concerns that the Cataloging subject headings do not meet the needs of Oriental Medicine topics.

They are willing and interested in looking at our needs. Dr. Stuart Nelson (MeSH) suggested we consider the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine. Dr Lindberg, Dir NLM, said if we organize and forward our needs they would be willing to look at incorporating these terms in the MeSH vocabulary. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to make some progress with the National Library of Medicine. I know that many of us use LC for cataloging, but we also add the MeSH terms in the bibliographic record.

Dr. Nelson is going to send me the ISBN for the Thesaurus, so I can take a look at it. I also ordered a copy of the International Nomenclature book.

Of course,if anything is doen, it would not happen overnite, it would be incrementally handled.

Another knowledgeable person I spoke to is Dr Kent Spackman,Director of Terminology for the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization database. When he was in China last year he became familiar with the issue we face.

Everyone agreed that it is best to incorporate the terms into an existing national system rather than consider building our own. A national system such as the NLM MeSH would be maintained, and we, as a small group of librarians, do not have the resources or staff to do this. With NLM involved we would also have a chance to get cooperation or collaboration from the Library of Congress too.

Let me know if I should continue to pursue this on behalf ot the LCAOM librarians.

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling that libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without robust libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be regarded and supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research capabilities beyond maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps libraries should be termed " Learning Centers" or something like that. Libraries should be integrated into the development of curriculum decisions and research needs in an organic way. Currently there are serious problems in communication between libraries and academic and administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that libraries must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets. Some information on possible consortium services is found in the files section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for libraries to become a more active part of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection should be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.

Hello Naomi and all, This is excellent news regarding NLM s willingness to consider Oriental medicine headings for inclusion in MeSH! As different health care

Message 6 of 10
, Dec 8, 2009

Hello Naomi and all,

This is excellent news regarding NLM's willingness to consider Oriental medicine headings for inclusion in MeSH! As different health care modalities become more integrated, MeSH mimics this trend and integrates more CAM terms with standard medical headings. They've added several over the past few years, and MeSH seems like a good resting place for Oriental medicine headings. It already includes several unique Chinese medicine terms; it does not seem outside of its scope to add some more.

Two questions:

1. Where is the file for LCAOM users? I wasn't able to find it at the Yahoo group site.

2. Do you have more information about the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine? I'd like to take a look at it.

Some good news. I am writing in regard to the continual discussion and furstration about Indexing terms and cataloging of Oriental Medicine topics listed below from the Idaho meeting minutes. .

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

This weekend I had an opportunity to speak to the Director of the National Library of Medicine and to the head of the Medical Subject Headings at the NLM, about our concerns that the Cataloging subject headings do not meet the needs of Oriental Medicine topics.

They are willing and interested in looking at our needs. Dr. Stuart Nelson (MeSH) suggested we consider the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine. Dr Lindberg, Dir NLM, said if we organize and forward our needs they would be willing to look at incorporating these terms in the MeSH vocabulary. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to make some progress with the National Library of Medicine. I know that many of us use LC for cataloging, but we also add the MeSH terms in the bibliographic record.

Dr. Nelson is going to send me the ISBN for the Thesaurus, so I can take a look at it. I also ordered a copy of the International Nomenclature book.

Of course,if anything is doen, it would not happen overnite, it would be incrementally handled.

Another knowledgeable person I spoke to is Dr Kent Spackman,Director of Terminology for the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization database. When he was in China last year he became familiar with the issue we face.

Everyone agreed that it is best to incorporate the terms into an existing national system rather than consider building our own. A national system such as the NLM MeSH would be maintained, and we, as a small group of librarians, do not have the resources or staff to do this. With NLM involved we would also have a chance to get cooperation or collaboration from the Library of Congress too.

Let me know if I should continue to pursue this on behalf ot the LCAOM librarians.

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling that libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without robust libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be regarded and supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research capabilities beyond maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps libraries should be termed " Learning Centers" or something like that. Libraries should be integrated into the development of curriculum decisions and research needs in an organic way. Currently there are serious problems in communication between libraries and academic and administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that libraries must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets. Some information on possible consortium services is found in the files section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for libraries to become a more active part of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection should be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.

This is excellent news regarding
NLM's willingness to consider Oriental medicine headings for inclusion in
MeSH! As different health care modalities become more integrated, MeSH
mimics this trend and integrates more CAM terms with standard medical
headings. They've added several over the past few years, and MeSH seems
like a good resting place for Oriental medicine headings. It already
includes several unique Chinese medicine terms; it does not seem outside of its
scope to add some more.

Two questions:

1. Where is the file for
LCAOM users? I wasn't able to find it at the Yahoo group site.

2. Do you have more
information about the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine? I'd like to
take a look at it.

Some good news. I am writing
in regard to the continual discussion and furstration about Indexing terms and
cataloging of Oriental Medicine topics listed below from the Idaho
meeting minutes. .

1.
Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or
consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements;
Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder
of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

Action: further
survey of cataloging librarians to explore establishing recommended subject
headings for unique OM topics.
This weekend I had an opportunity to speak to the Director of the National
Library of Medicine and to the head of the Medical Subject Headings at the NLM,
about our concerns that the Cataloging subject headings do not meet the needs
of Oriental Medicine topics.

They are willing and interested in
looking at our needs. Dr. Stuart Nelson (MeSH) suggested we consider the
Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine. Dr Lindberg, Dir NLM, said if we organize
and forward our needs they would be willing to look at incorporating these
terms in the MeSH vocabulary. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to
make some progress with the National Library of Medicine. I know that many
of us use LC for cataloging, but we also add the MeSH terms in the
bibliographic record.

Dr. Nelson is going to send me the
ISBN for the Thesaurus, so I can take a look at it. I also ordered a copy
of the International Nomenclature book.

Of course,if anything is
doen, it would not happen overnite, it would be incrementally handled.

Another knowledgeable person
I spoke to is Dr Kent Spackman,Director of Terminology for the International Health Terminology Standards
Development Organization database. When he was in China last year
he became familiar with the issue we face.

Everyone agreed that it is best to
incorporate the terms into an existing national system rather than consider
building our own. A national system such as the NLM MeSH would be
maintained, and we, as a small group of librarians, do not have the
resources or staff to do this. With NLM involved we would also have a
chance to get cooperation or collaboration from the Library of
Congress too.

Let me know if I should continue to
pursue this on behalf ot the LCAOM librarians.

Here
are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically
or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five
elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under
"headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling
that libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without
robust libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be
regarded and supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research
capabilities beyond maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps
libraries should be termed " Learning Centers" or something like
that. Libraries should be integrated into the development of curriculum
decisions and research needs in an organic way. Currently there are
serious problems in communication between libraries and academic and
administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that
libraries must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets.
Some information on possible consortium services is found in the files
section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of
a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to
coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the
consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for libraries to become a more active part
of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group
and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching
institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel
cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast
considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection
should be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get
wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these
days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage
individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.

This is excellent news regarding NLM's willingness to consider Oriental medicine headings for inclusion in MeSH! As different health care modalities become more integrated, MeSH mimics this trend and integrates more CAM terms with standard medical headings. They've added several over the past few years, and MeSH seems like a good resting place for Oriental medicine headings. It already includes several unique Chinese medicine terms; it does not seem outside of its scope to add some more.

Two questions:

1. Where is the file for LCAOM users? I wasn't able to find it at the Yahoo group site.

2. Do you have more information about the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine? I'd like to take a look at it.

Some good news. I am writing in regard to the continual discussion and furstration about Indexing terms and cataloging of Oriental Medicine topics listed below from the Idaho meeting minutes..

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

This weekend I had an opportunity to speak to the Director of the National Library of Medicine and to the head of the Medical Subject Headings at the NLM, about our concerns that the Cataloging subject headings do not meet the needs of Oriental Medicine topics.

They are willing and interested in looking at our needs. Dr. Stuart Nelson (MeSH) suggested we consider the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine. Dr Lindberg, Dir NLM, said if we organize and forward our needs they would be willing to look at incorporating these terms in the MeSH vocabulary. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to make some progress with the National Library of Medicine. I know that many of us use LC for cataloging, but we also add the MeSH terms in the bibliographic record.

Dr. Nelson is going to send me the ISBN for the Thesaurus, so I can take a look at it. I also ordered a copy of the International Nomenclature book.

Of course,if anything is doen, it would not happen overnite, it would be incrementally handled.

Another knowledgeable person I spoke to is Dr Kent Spackman,Director of Terminology for the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization database. When he was in China last year he became familiar with the issue we face.

Everyone agreed that it is best to incorporate the terms into an existing national system rather than consider building our own. A national system such as the NLM MeSH would be maintained, and we, as a small group of librarians, do not have the resources or staff to do this. With NLM involved we would also have a chance to get cooperation or collaboration from the Library of Congress too.

Let me know if I should continue to pursue this on behalf ot the LCAOM librarians.

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling that libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without robust libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be regarded and supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research capabilities beyond maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps libraries should be termed " Learning Centers" or something like that. Libraries should be integrated into the development of curriculum decisions and research needs in an organic way. Currently there are serious problems in communication between libraries and academic and administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that libraries must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets. Some information on possible consortium services is found in the files section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for libraries to become a more active part of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection should be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.

Naomi,Greetings from Beijing! I apologize for not sending you the ISBN of the book.Somehow, in these last few months, where I have been travelling frequently,
It slipped my mind. I will return to Bethesda on the 18th. I can send it to you shortly after that.If you don't receive it before Christmas, remind me and I will send it to you.

I will be meeting today with the Director of the Instittute of Information on Traditional
Chinese Medicine, part of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. They are the producers of the Thesaurus of TCM and Chiense Materia Medica.I hope to discuss with him the means by which we can make their thesaurus more available, including it in the UMLS, and possibly adding it as an extension to MeSH.
So the timing of your message is very appropriate.

This is excellent news regarding NLM's willingness to consider Oriental medicine headings for inclusion in MeSH! As different health care modalities become more integrated, MeSH mimics this trend and integrates more CAM terms with standard medical headings. They've added several over the past few years, and MeSH seems like a good resting place for Oriental medicine headings. It already includes several unique Chinese medicine terms; it does not seem outside of its scope to add some more.

Two questions:

1. Where is the file for LCAOM users? I wasn't able to find it at the Yahoo group site.

2. Do you have more information about the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine? I'd like to take a look at it.

Some good news. I am writing in regard to the continual discussion and furstration about Indexing terms and cataloging of Oriental Medicine topics listed below from the Idaho meeting minutes. .

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

This weekend I had an opportunity to speak to the Director of the National Library of Medicine and to the head of the Medical Subject Headings at the NLM, about our concerns that the Cataloging subject headings do not meet the needs of Oriental Medicine topics.

They are willing and interested in looking at our needs. Dr. Stuart Nelson (MeSH) suggested we consider the Thesaurus of Chinese Medicine. Dr Lindberg, Dir NLM, said if we organize and forward our needs they would be willing to look at incorporating these terms in the MeSH vocabulary. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to make some progress with the National Library of Medicine. I know that many of us use LC for cataloging, but we also add the MeSH terms in the bibliographic record.

Dr. Nelson is going to send me the ISBN for the Thesaurus, so I can take a look at it. I also ordered a copy of the International Nomenclature book.

Of course,if anything is doen, it would not happen overnite, it would be incrementally handled.

Another knowledgeable person I spoke to is Dr Kent Spackman,Director of Terminology for the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization database. When he was in China last year he became familiar with the issue we face.

Everyone agreed that it is best to incorporate the terms into an existing national system rather than consider building our own. A national system such as the NLM MeSH would be maintained, and we, as a small group of librarians, do not have the resources or staff to do this. With NLM involved we would also have a chance to get cooperation or collaboration from the Library of Congress too.

Let me know if I should continue to pursue this on behalf ot the LCAOM librarians.

Here are the minutes of the October 21st 2009 meeting of LCAOM in Idaho.

1. Discussion of subject headings relevant to OM which are not systematically or consistently covered in standard cataloging sources. Examples: five elements; Medicine, Chinese-Tibet OR Medicine, Tibetan.

Action: reminder of a file for LCAOM users in the group under "headings"

2. Library role in institutional literature competency. General feeling that libaries are central to overall goals of the institutions and without robust libraries the DAOM will not be possible. Libraries should be regarded and supported for a variety of learning, teachng and research capabilities beyond maintaining a valid collection of materials. Perhaps libraries should be termed "
Learning Centers" or something like that. Libraries should be integrated into the development of curriculum decisions and research needs in an organic way. Currently there are serious problems in communication between libraries and academic and administrative entities.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to work on these issues.

3. Discussion of forming a library consortium. General feeling that libraries must work together, particularly in times of tight budgets. Some information on possible consortium services is found in the files section of this yahoo usergroup.

Action: Active recruitment of a subcommittee to seriously work on formation of a cooperative consortium.

The chair of the committee will serve on these committees and is willing to coordinate group efforts. Ter Powers at AIMC is already on board for the consortium subcommittee.

There was consensus that it is time for
libraries to become a more active part of the overall AOM mission and it is hoped that vigorous efforts by the group and subcommittees in cooperation with other elements of the teaching institutions will yield results.

4. It has been the case for some time that a majority of library personnel cannot make it to the semiannual meetings, due primarily to coast considerations. Some kind of conference call meeting or skype connection should be explored.

Action: It was decided to develop some kind of conference call meeting to get wider participation regarding the pressing issues of OM instruction in these days. The conference would be held at a time which would not discourage individuals from attending semiannual meetings in person.